High-clearance spreaders are getting larger and heavier over time to allow for carrying longer booms that provide increased coverage in a single pass. High-clearance sprayers are also getting more complex, with accessories that improve machine efficiency and user comfort. These large high-clearance sprayers require larger and stronger frames to support the sprayer itself and its various accessories.
In order to provide sufficient strength and mounting locations for components and accessory-supporting brackets, high-clearance sprayer frames are currently made in a ladder-style configuration made from numerous large sections of tubing to which various open channels, plates, and/or other webs of materials may be attached, such as in a vertical stack that adds to the overall height of the frame. These ladder-style tube frames can be relatively heavy and have numerous individual components that can require substantial amounts of time for fit-up and welding while fabricating. Even more time can be needed for some frames that are constructed as multiple individual frame sections, such as a main frame section and an engine supporting sub-frame section, that are later connected to each other during final assembly.
The boxed plate frame of the invention is made without interconnected tube or channels stacked on tubes. Instead, it is made from plate segments that are cut out from plate material and welded together to make a fully boxed frame. As a result, the boxed plate constructed frame of the current invention is wider, shorter, and lighter than the current ladder-style tube frame while simultaneously constructing the engine supporting section with the rest of the frame, instead of creating a separate weldment or sub-frame for an engine support that has to be separately attached to the chassis frame.